SALES ORGANIZATIONS

Nothing is more challenging than creating and maintaining a relatively consistent, high-performance sales machine. One month it seems that you've cracked the code...the next month...well...not so much.

Recruiting capable, motivated salespeople is a daunting task that gobbles up valuable management time and energy. It often seems impossible to predict who is likely to succeed, and the turnover rate of new salespeople is painfully high...making growth and forecasting all the more difficult.

Enthusiastic new recruits can be quickly discouraged by insecurity and the lack of early results...and experienced salespeople can easily grow disillusioned and fragile from inconsistency, the relentless pressure to perform, and the cumulative emotional baggage of negative interactions and experiences.

The pressure on management to produce consistency, improve numbers, drive growth, and accurately forecast is relentless, and eventually consumes the confidence (and careers) of too many capable sales leaders.

The root of these issues usually lie in the fact that most sales organizations attempt to drive their people to perform from the outside-in...by over-relying on stern management practices, artificial metrics, measurements, and quotas...and externally imposed goals, values, and incentives.

It's a self-perpetuating cycle of stress and struggle...but the relentless urgency to achieve sales numbers makes it hard to see a less difficult solution. The answer is often to just double-down, and amp-up the outside-in pressure until something pops...and the company is forced to begin again with new people, prospects, or pricing....but with the same old outside-in motivational approach. In stark comparison, the great sales organizations-the ones that achieve steady growth through consistently high performance and greater organizational stability-have learned the secret of leading people from the inside-out. ​